Beautiful legs are the pride and undeniable dignity of every woman. Due to the modern lifestyle, the shape of the legs often leaves much to be desired: sedentary work, traveling on public transport or a private car lead to the fact that the calf muscles do not work enough during everyday activities. To have graceful, slender and toned legs, you need to exercise regularly.
Those who are involved in bodybuilding know that calves are one of the hardest muscles to “punch through”, and it is quite difficult to pump them up. This happens because, unlike the muscles of the back, abs, or biceps, these muscles are used regularly by us to varying degrees. This article contains examples of the best calf exercises for both home and gym exercises, accompanied by photos and videos, as well as tips for working on them effectively. Let's get started!
A little about anatomy
For exercise to give positive results, it is worth knowing the anatomy of the leg muscles. The lower leg includes three muscle groups - posterior, anterior and external. The muscles of the outer and anterior groups are very small and almost invisible, so you mainly need to pump up the rear muscles . The posterior group consists of two large muscles - the soleus and gastrocnemius.
- Calf – originates from the knee and ends at the Achilles tendon. It consists of two heads and covers almost the entire back surface of the lower leg. This is the most noticeable muscle, and it is the one that works the most in all exercises.
- The soleus is so named because of its shape. For the most part it is hidden by the calf, but the volume and shape of the lower leg also significantly depend on it.
These muscles are physiologically adapted to long-term physical activity, as they work during almost any of our movements. The fibers from which the calf muscles are formed are not prone to increasing volume. Therefore, in order to stimulate their growth, it is necessary to load the calves to failure, and for this it is not enough to walk or exercise with your body weight. To form a beautiful calf shape, you need to regularly exercise with weights, and then you will be able to notice a positive result.
More information on how to pump up your calves at home is described in the fitness program in the next paragraph.
Weekly calf training program at home
1. Selecting training days. For example, Monday - Thursday - Sunday. When choosing days, keep in mind
Training should be done with a break of 2-3 days, depending on the time required to recover from the previous session. A recovery period is necessary for the muscles to return to normal and the pain to go away. It is during this period that intensive muscle growth occurs. If two days after training you feel that your muscles are still sore, postpone the training for another day, since overstraining the muscles will not cause their growth, but will lead to the opposite result - their destruction.
2. Each day of class, choose three exercises you like from the ones below. 3 . Do 3-5 sets , resting a couple of minutes between sets. Each approach includes 15-30 repetitions . In general, their number depends on your endurance. If you can do more than 30 repetitions per set, this means that the selected dumbbell weight is too light.
Let us remind you that exercises for calves should be done to failure, that is, until continuation of repetitions becomes physically impossible.
Most of the exercises mentioned below are performed with dumbbells. For girls with little physical training, dumbbells weighing from 3 to 5 kg are suitable for starters, for more experienced ones - 8-10. Over time, the weight needs to be increased.
You can perform the exercises at any convenient time, in front of the TV or listening to your favorite music.
Exercises in the gym
Training in the gym is suitable for men and women who have a sufficient level of physical fitness. Girls who have decided to exercise for the first time should not immediately resort to this option, since some exercises are complex and are performed on machines.
When pumping up the calf muscles, pain and discomfort may occur in the area being worked on. This is considered normal. But if the pain intensifies and hemorrhages appear on the skin, you should stop training.
The following are considered the most popular and effective exercises for increasing the size of the calf muscles.
Step platform
A universal and simple exercise that is suitable for trained and unprepared people. Performed on a regular platform 10-20 cm high:
- Take the starting position standing on the floor with your legs previously spread shoulder-width apart.
- Stand with the toe of one foot on the platform, leaving the heel suspended.
- Raise your body on one leg, placing half of your foot as perpendicular to the floor as possible.
- Maintain a steady pace to maximally work your calf muscles.
Perform at least 15 lifts for each leg. If additional support is needed, it is allowed to hold on to a wall or handrail with one hand.
Seated Raises
To perform this exercise, you will need a special exercise machine for pumping your calves, which is available in every gym. It is a kind of chair with a small platform for the legs and a special rod, on which, as you train, you can put weights on, gradually increasing their number.
Execution does not require special skills. You need to sit on the machine and raise your feet on your toes at the same time as the lever on which the weights are located. Depending on the degree of fitness, you should perform from 10 to 30 lifts at a measured pace. Girls should not choose this exercise at the beginning of classes. It is more suitable for men and trained women.
Toe press
For this exercise you will also need a machine called a “leg press”. It consists of a surface for lying on your back, and a special platform on rollers, which must be lifted with your legs up from a lying position. For beginners, the weight of the platform itself is enough. For advanced women and men, it is allowed to add weights in the form of pancakes on each side, which are placed on an iron rod.
It is important to note that lifting should not be done with the entire foot, but only with the toes, this will allow you to maximally pump and increase the volume of the calf muscles. For a beginner, 20 presses are enough; for advanced athletes, up to 50 repetitions are allowed at a measured pace. Girls should not immediately take up such a simulator, since such a load often provokes sprains and injuries due to lack of preparation.
Smith machine
Another machine for pumping calves will be the Smith machine, in which a person squats with a barbell on his shoulders. Regular squats should be replaced with squats on the toes, due to which the effectiveness of the exercise for the legs will increase several times. This option is suitable only for men and advanced women, since the load is serious.
You should start with 10 repetitions, gradually increasing the number to 30 per workout.
Exercises to pump up your calves at home
Raise on toes
This is the basic, most basic exercise. Stand straight, put your feet together, lower your arms with dumbbells along your body. It is advisable to find some kind of support: this is necessary for greater amplitude during movements. Place your socks on a ladder, door threshold, or thick board. Then rise on your toes as high as possible, and then slowly lower to the starting position. The calf muscle is more involved here. To thoroughly work both heads of the muscle, you can perform raises with your toes together or spread apart. If you bring the socks together, the outer part of the calf will work more, and if you spread them out, the inner calves will work more.
The correct technique is shown in the video:
This exercise can be complicated: rise not on two legs, but alternately on one. Then weights may not be needed. If after several repetitions you feel severe pain in your feet, which often happens with flat feet, try removing the stand and simply rising from the floor.
Seated knee raise
Sit on a chair or exercise ball. Place your hands with weights on your knees. Raise your feet on your toes and freeze in this position for 2-3 seconds, and then lower your heels back to the floor. This exercise focuses on the soleus muscle. You can see an example of how to pump up your calves while sitting on a fitball in the photo.
Squats on toes
Stand straight, spread your legs slightly narrower than your shoulders. Take dumbbells in your hands. Then do squats, standing on your toes. Pull your buttocks back, keeping your back straight, and then slowly rise to the starting position. Here, not only the calves are pumped, but also the muscles of the thighs and buttocks.
Advice! If doing this exercise with dumbbells is difficult, try simply stretching your arms forward.
Walking on your toes with weights
A very simple and not so boring exercise. Take dumbbells or water bottles in your hands, rise high on your toes and walk around the apartment. Try to bend your knees as little as possible. Do this until you feel a strong burning sensation in your calves.
Climbing stairs
This exercise can be done in the entrance if the neighbors do not bother you. Take dumbbells and walk up the stairs, stepping on your toes. You can step over the step: in this case, the gluteal muscles, quadriceps and hamstrings will also work. The exercise should be performed for 15-20 minutes until the muscles completely fail. One approach is sufficient here.
Jumping up
Stand up straight, take dumbbells in your hands. There will be enough small dumbbells here, you can even do without them. Squat down and jump up from this position; repeat 15-30 times. This exercise burns calories perfectly and will help not only pump up your calves, but also lose weight.
The video shows the technique of performing the exercise:
"Pistol"
This exercise is familiar to many from school physical education lessons. It can also be done with light weight. Hold a dumbbell in one hand and hold a chair or lean against a wall with the other. Extend one leg forward and squat on the other 15-30 times.
It is recommended to periodically change the exercise program, as well as regularly increase weight. Constantly performing the same exercises with the same weight becomes addictive, and the muscles stop responding to the load. As soon as you feel that you can take larger dumbbells, feel free to do so!
If you don't have dumbbells, you can pick up any suitable heavy objects, such as water bottles. Dumbbells can also be replaced with special weights that are worn on the legs.
Exercises for the gym
If you work out in the gym, do not forget to pay full attention to the muscles of the lower leg. The contrast between toned buttocks and thin calves does not look very harmonious. The above set of exercises is suitable for the gym, but you can add other exercises to it - on special simulators. Beginners should exercise on simulators only under the supervision of a trainer in order to avoid mistakes and avoid injuries.
Smith machine calf raises
A great alternative to dumbbell curls. Stand under the barbell so that it is directly above your shoulder blades. Place your toes on the platform. Perform lifts slowly and with maximum amplitude. The Smith machine allows you to use more weight than with dumbbells, and the load will be more isolated. If the bar rubs or puts a lot of pressure on your shoulders, you can wrap it with a towel or a special foam pad.
Tips for Best Muscle Growth
To speed up the growth of the lower leg muscles, you need to listen to the following recommendations:
- Be sure to warm up before classes . It is necessary to warm up the muscles and prepare them for stress. A short jog, treadmill, stepper or elliptical, or jumping rope are suitable as a warm-up. The duration of the warm-up is 5-7 minutes.
- After exercise, you need to do stretching - it gives the muscle fibers a stimulus for accelerated growth. For example, this can be done like this: lean your hands on the wall, stretch one leg back and press your heel to the floor until you feel a strong stretch in your calves; repeat with the other leg. Another way is to sit on the floor, stretch your legs forward, grab your toes with your hands and pull them towards you. The duration of the stretch is about five minutes.
- All exercises should be performed slowly. This allows you to fully experience the movements and feel maximum tension in the muscles.
- When performing movements to better stretch the calf muscles, you should do the maximum amplitude, that is, rise on your toes as high as possible and lower as low as possible.
- It is advisable to pause at the top point - at the moment of greatest muscle tension.
- You shouldn't practice too often. By doing exercises every day, you will not give your muscles rest, and then they will not recover, which means they will not grow.
- Don't forget about proper nutrition. Muscles need protein, so your diet should include foods such as chicken breast, cottage cheese, eggs, lean fish and others. It is advisable to avoid eating fatty, sweet and fried foods.
General recommendations
Remember to regularly train any muscles, not just calves
- Before doing a set of exercises to develop your calves, be sure to stretch the joints of your ankles and fingers and warm up the muscles themselves.
- After exercise, be sure to stretch your calf muscles. To do this, take a wide step back, placing your heel on the floor and leaning your body forward. Stretch for 10-20 seconds with each leg.
- The range of motion when performing exercises should be maximum.
- The load needs to be changed. Vary the exercises and load, otherwise addiction will occur, which will reduce the effect of the exercises.
- You need to train your calves two or three times a week, giving the muscles time to recover.
- Aerobics should be done at the beginning of the workout, and strength training on the calves should be completed. This is the only way to achieve calf growth.
- If you transfer weight to your thumbs when lifting, the load on the muscles will be better.
- To further complicate the exercises and pump up men's calves, hold for five counts at the top of the lift.
- When pumping up your calves, the main thing is not to overdo it and not overwork the muscles, otherwise you can bring yourself to cramps. And this is at least unpleasant.
How long does it take to achieve results?
Now on the Internet you can find many different training programs that supposedly will allow you to increase your calves and other muscles in a week, or even less. In fact, it is impossible to achieve noticeable results in a week. There is no such “magic” program that tells you how to quickly pump up your calves at home without much effort. Moreover, the calf muscles, as mentioned above, are the most difficult to pump up. With due diligence, muscle growth can be observed after no less than a month of regular and intense training. Much here depends on genetics: for some, the muscles quickly respond to the load, while for others it takes many months to achieve the desired shape of the legs.
We wish you good luck in building your ideal body!
Calf structure
The calves consist of two muscles: the gastrocnemius (it is external, so it is more noticeable) and the soleus (a deep muscle located under the gastrocnemius).
These two muscles work like a well-oiled machine to coordinate the movements of the foot and ankle joint, and also help flex the leg at the kneecap.
Most often we are concerned about the condition of the calf muscles, since they are the ones that are most noticeable. But in fact, the condition of the soleus muscles is much more important, because they support the calves.
